Ava Benny-Morrison
Chris Dolmetsch
Bob Van Voris
Former FTX engineering chief Nishad Singh pleaded guilty to fraud and campaign-finance charges related to the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange.
Singh appeared in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday for his plea hearing. He’s the third close associate of FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried to have pleaded guilty.
“Today’s guilty plea underscores once again that the crimes at FTX were vast in scope and consequence,” US Attorney for Southern District of New York Damian Williams said.
“They rocked our financial markets with a multibillion dollar fraud. And they corrupted our politics with tens of millions of dollars in illegal straw campaign contributions. These crimes demand swift and certain justice and that is exactly what we are seeking in the Southern District of New York.”
Singh has been negotiating a deal with federal prosecutors since taking part in a proffer session last month, Bloomberg previously reported.
Two of Bankman-Fried’s other former top associates, Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison, pleaded guilty last year to charges in connection to their roles at FTX and Alameda Research and are working with prosecutors. A representative for Bankman-Fried declined to comment.
Singh joined Alameda in 2017 and helped write the software that FTX was built on. He also had a close personal relationship with Bankman-Fried, living with him in a Bahamas penthouse.
In a revised indictment filed against Bankman-Fried last week, prosecutors alleged a conspiracy to influence cryptocurrency regulation through political donations.
Singh has given more than $9.3 million to Democratic candidates and committees since 2020, according to filings. In the last election cycle, he shelled out $8 million alone. Among the largest recipients was Mind The Gap, a political action committee founded by Bankman-Fried’s mother that received $1 million from Singh in April 2021.
